1. Field of the Invention
The present invention particularly pertains to yoga and exercise mat constructed in such a way so as to physically attach a plurality of markers that can be securely affixed to the mat, in order to better help yoga performers or exercisers maintain a proper posture, enhance their physical form, positioning and to greatly minimize a potential safety hazard and the risk of injury. In particular, the attachable markers are manufactured in an array of different shapes, styles and colors to especially aide those individuals who are visually impaired. The markers can further be personalized, whereby the exercising individual can print thereto his/her own messages, so as to direct and motivate him/herself with the ultimate end-goal of achieving enhanced exercise results.
2. Background
Staying physically active and exercising is an essential part of life, as maintaining an active life-style not only replenishes a person's state of mind by releasing chronic tension and increasing self-awareness, but also ensures, that chronic diseases and various other aliments are effectively kept in check. It is clear, that as the incidence of debilitating medical conditions such as but not limited to heart diseases and cancer diminish due to an improved public awareness regarding maintaining a healthy life-style and regular physical activity, there is still an unmet need for exercise mats from the perspective of actively exercising individuals, that greatly aide in the improvement of their physical form and maintenance of correct posture during the physical work-out session.
Yoga and exercise mats have been accessible in a plethora of distinct shapes, colors, designs and materials heretofore. Exercise and yoga mat designs with printed indicia and grids are available in order to assist visually impaired exercisers in maintaining a proper body posture and alignment and to assess incremental improvements in flexibility.
There exists a number of United States patents and patent application publications that display the general purpose of teaching exercise and yoga mats.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,935,653 issued to Klein which has the title “Beach Blanket staking Device” describes a push-in and pull-out peg or stake-device having a drive stem and a frame-like drive head primarily for holding-down blankets or covers such as highly windy beach areas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,013 issued to Marquez entitled “Exercise Augment System” teaches an exercise mat system for providing reference to an individual performing yoga exercises. The inventive device includes a mat having a first center line, a second center line orthogonal to the first center line, a plurality of first lines parallel to the first center line, and a plurality of second lines parallel to the second center line. The mat is a flat structure which may be comprised of a resilient and cushioned material. A plurality of markers may be positioned at the intersection of the lines for increased visual references. The exerciser is able to have a visual reference regarding the respective position of their feet, hands and body during an exercise.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,537 issued to McCoy entitled “Exercise Mat” pertains to a non-slip exercise mat for use on multiple surfaces including at least one layer of material having a top surface, a bottom surface and side surfaces. The mat also includes systems for removably securing the mat to carpeted surfaces and for preventing the mat from slipping on non-carpeted surfaces. Both systems can be joined with the bottom surface or joined on opposite surfaces of the mat. The mat may include shock absorbing materials, as well as texturized, slip-resistant materials. The mat may also include a cover for the system for removably securing the mat to carpeted surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,382 issued to Buckley entitled “Exercise Rug With Contours” discloses a woven exercise rug. The exercise rug has contours on an exercise surface to reduce the chance of a user slipping during an exercise. The woven material provides moisture relief and contours provide additional gripping for the user of the rug to help reduce the chance of slippage due to perspiration
U.S. Pat. No. 7,069,607 issued to Nichols with the title “Absorbent Towel With Projections” generally teaches a yoga mat made from a towel. The towel comprises a base layer and a plurality of raised projections that project away from the base layer. The projections are made from plastic, rubber, or epoxy and are used to provide grip to a floor surface. The top surface, as a towel material, is water absorbent to prevent slipping during yoga positions. The surface of the towel includes a focal region designed to be a visual focus point to assist with concentration during the practice of yoga, martial arts or other sporting activities.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,635 issued to Howlett-Campanella and titled “Yoga Mat With Body Contact Placement Indicia” teaches a mat having a symmetrical body placement guide. The guide is imprinted on an upper surface of the mat, and is used to aid a yoga performer with proper body alignment during yoga postures, and to track flexibility progress. The body placement guide includes a pattern design, a longitudinal axis and transverse axis that define four quadrants.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,955,224 issued to Curley with the title “Yoga Mat with intuitive tactile Feedback for visually impaired” is concerned with an exercise mat that provides intuitive tactile feedback, allowing a user to determine body placement using the sense of touch. The mat enables visually impaired exercisers to determine location and direction on the mat. The mat comprises placement stations that are distinguishable by shape, elevation, concavity, texture or otherwise devices that are perceptible by touch to assist a user in correct foot and hand placements during a yoga posture-sequence, and exercise-program, a dance routine and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,220,087 issued to Villa entitled “Exercise Mat” generally teaches an exercise mat including a plurality of supports positioned for specific body parts that provide a proper cushioning for the exercising individual. The supports may be integrally formed into the mat or removable. The exercise mat may further comprise a cover. The cover may have pockets or holes to receive the supports. The bottom of the mat or the cover may be made from non-slippage material.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,499,383 issued to Ungaro entitled “Exercise Mat with visual Markers for Alignment” has an object of teaching exercise mat-system that includes an exercise mat comprising an upper surface, and a plurality of visual markers positioned on the upper surface of said mat, where the relative positioning of the visual markers correlates to a user's body parts and distances between the user's body parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,701,654 issued to Newburger with the title “Exercise Mat and System for ensuring proper Form and Posture during Exercise” pertains to an exercise system having a mat which is dimensioned to support a user stretched out on the floor. The mat comprises a central fastening band disposed widthwise across the mat. A belt fits around the midsection of the user adapted to be aligned with and also adhere to the fastening band of the mat. The user is intended to perform certain flexibility exercises with the belt in contact with the fastening band.
United States Patent Application Publication 2003/0017915 by Prinzmetal entitled “Mat” teaches a mat for use with floor exercises. The mat comprises intersecting centerlines, a pair of hand references zones, and a pair of foot reference zones. Reference zones for hand and foot are made of vertical and horizontal utility strips. Utility strips may be fixed, or may be removed and repositioned in order to mark incremental improvements.
United States Patent Application Publication US2004/0214692 by Koenig titled “Grid On An Exercise Product And Exercise System Therewith” relates to an exercise mat having intersecting straight lines and sequential reference indicia. The mat of Koenig provides a grid of marks. Lines in the grid of marks can be visibly different in color, thickness and type (such as dashed lines), and can have a convex or concave protrusion from the surface of the exercise mat to differentiate one mark from another. The grid of lines may be used to assist in exercise alignment to measure stretching progress from one week to another week, or to identify correct dance movements.
United States Patent Application Publication US2004/0229731 by Mitchell entitled “Exercise Mat With Printed Indicia Thereon” discloses a low impact exercise mat. The exercise mat has two sets of printed indicia. One set of indicia is to identify a location on the mat, while the second set is used to identify direction on a mat. The mat can be used to follow an exercise regimen for associative learners, visual learners, mathematical learners, spatial learners, auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, interactive learners. The mat of Mitchell uses printed indicia and relies on visual cues.
United States Patent Application Publication 2004/0250346 by Vasishth with the title “Anti-slip multi-layer Yoga Mat” has a main objective of teaching anti-slip, multi-layer exercise mats having an upper fabric layer, a lower pliable foam layer, and an intermediate adhesive such that during use, the mat provides the athlete with safety and comfort and during transport or storage the rolled mat provides convenience.
United States Patent Application Publication 2006/0040811 by Foster having the title “Floor Exercise Mat and Pad System” is concerned with a floor exercise mat and pad system comprising a mat and support pads, in which the pads can be selectively attached to the mat for the purpose of comfortably supporting a user's neck, back or other body areas in the course of performing exercise or stretch while lying on the mat. The system may also include a removable cover for the mat and an elastic band for holding the mat in a coiled position.
United States Patent Application Publication 2006/0073305 by Kole entitled “Yoga Mat” generally teaches a yoga mat having several arms. The yoga mat has a central segment from which a plurality of substantially equidistant arms extend outwardly. The mat of Kole enables a mat user to practice a variety of yoga positions without needing to reposition the mat.
United States Patent Application Publication 2007/0275827 by Glaser having the title “Yoga Mat” discloses mats that provide improved balance, stability, relief of joint and knee pain and improved grip. One particular mat has an upper surface with protrusions such as knobs in order to provide a feeling of acupressure massage to the user. The mat may be continuous and rolled up for storage, or may be divided into sections and folded. A layer of foam is provided for cushioning purposes.
United States Patent Application Publication 2007/0275827 by Glaser having the title “Exercise Mat with integral repositionable Support Assemblies” demonstrates an exercise device with a mat portion and a plurality of support assemblies. The mat portion defines a plurality of holes. Each support assembly has a support member, a support bridge, and one or more support inserts. The support member has a flat bottom and a bolster-shaped top and defines one or more cavities that extend through the bottom of the support member and into the interior of the support member. The support inserts are generally hollow and are fitted into the cavities in the support member. The support bridge defines one or more projections that extend upwards from and generally perpendicular to the top of the support bridge. Each projection is sized and shaped to fit through one of the holes in the mat portion. The interior surface of each of the support inserts defines a plurality of grooves, each of the projections defines a plurality of ridges, and the grooves and ridges are adapted to form a press fit when coupled together, to removably couple the mat portion between the support member and the support bridge. The support assembly may be removed and repositioned to different locations on the mat portion as desired by a user.
United States Patent Application Publication 2011/0131723 by Andrews with the title “Combined Yoga Strap and Mat” shows a combined yoga exercise mat and yoga exercise strap which are movable to: (a) a hanging position in which the yoga exercise strap is attached to the yoga exercise mat to facilitate hanging the yoga exercise mat for washing, air drying and storage, to (b) a carrying position in which the yoga exercise mat is rolled and the yoga exercise strap is positioned about and secures the rolled yoga exercise mat and in which the yoga exercise strap can be positioned on a shoulder of a person to help carry the rolled yoga exercise mat, and to (c) an exercise position in which the yoga exercise strap is detached from the yoga exercise mat so that a person can perform yoga exercises with the yoga exercise strap and on the yoga exercise mat.
United States Patent Application Publication 2013/0180048 by Saltzman entitled “Exercise Yoga Mat and Methods of using same” generally relates to an exercise yoga mat, where the mat has primed indicia for measuring distance along the surface of the mat, while executing yoga exercise positions.
United States Patent Application Publication 2013/0324382 by Wilson with the title “Multi-Function Exercise Mat with detachable Implements and Method” demonstrates a non-planar exercise mat comprising a plurality of detachable handheld implements, each handheld implement serving utilitarian function independently of the mat. Various embodiments of Wilson's invention include permanently affixed or detachable cushions for tail-bone support; lumbar support; neck support and the like. Different embodiments cover handles for assisting a user in performing a variety of exercises upon using the mat.
While the prior art mentioned hereinabove teaches various forms of yoga and exercise mats with distinct functionalities, there still remains a need to improvements in such prior art mats in order to better help the exercising individual maintain a consistent alignment during an exercise workout-session, improve the exercising individuals form, while at the same time potentially diminishing acquiring an injury. The present invention now provides a yoga or exercise mat that provides such improvements.